Tag: Fun

There are so many ways that I would suggest spending 24 hours in New York City. As I mentioned in a previous post, the endless options give me a bit of commitment phobia. SO, Here’s the first post of a series that will detail what you COULD do with 24 hours in New York.

Let’s assume that:

1. You don’t want to do too many touristy, cliché things

2. It’s decent weather

3. You like to eat and drink as much as I do

Start by having a New York-centric breakfast. If you’re downtown get a bagel at Tompkins Square Bagels. Be prepared to wait in a long line of hungover youths, bring cash, and do NOT ask them to toast the bagel.

If you want more of a diner experience, go to City Diner on the Upper West Side or the aforementioned Flame diner in midtown (in case you missed it, you can read about The Flame here). If you do go to The Flame be sure to say hi to Pedro behind the counter. He’s really good at pouring a bowl of fruit loops. I know because I had this for breakfast for most of my childhood.

After breakfast get on the 2/3 to Clark Street or the A/C to High street and head to Brooklyn Heights. When you get to Brooklyn Heights you should probably get a second cup of coffee to walk around with because you’re on vacation and you’re indulging. There’s a good coffee shop on Clarke street between Henry and Hicks. Get a cup o’ joe (i’ve always wanted to say that) and walk to the promenade. The view from the promenade is probably my favorite view of the city. The perspective of the city from the park below the promenade is even more overwhelming.

After you’ve soaked up the view of the city, you’ll want to walk back up through Brooklyn Heights to the pedestrian entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge. Don’t go all the way to the start, enter by the stairs in Cadman Plaza Park. For your own safety stay out of the bike lane (stay to the left) while walking across the bridge and for the love of goodness don’t stop in the middle of the path to take tons of pictures. If you do, you’ll see the side of New Yorkers you’ve heard so much about.

I think by now you might be ready for lunch. It’ll be a bit of a walk (I hope you have stylish sneakers on) but head towards Chinatown. There’s a hole-in-the-wall, real authentic Chinese place called Deluxe Green Bo. It’s comical that it contains the word deluxe because it’s anything but. You might feel like you’ll catch some kind of contagious disease just sitting in this place, but I’m telling you it’s worth it. The one thing you have to get is the scallion pancakes. Don’t eat too much cause there’s still a lot to be consumed in this 24 hours.

From there either walk off the pancakes or take the 1 from Franklin to Houston street. (Let me save you some embarrassment by telling you now that Houston is not pronounced like the city in Texas. New York decided it would defy the rules of the English language so it has its own pronunciation of the word. You say it like house-tin.) ANYWAY, If you do decide to walk, it would be nice (though a bit longer) to go along the Hudson River. Once you get to Houston Street, make your way to Houston Hall. I’m obsessed with this place. At night it can get a bit too “broey” for me, but during the off hours it’s great. I regularly try to convince my boyfriend that we should get married here, however, we are not yet engaged so my campaign doesn’t seem to be going very well. If you’re still hungry, the fried pickles are great. Obviously the beer is a must as well, my favorite being the wheat beer.

(Seriously though, how pretty is that!)

If I were you I’d probably be ready for a nap. I’d either go home or to Central Park to lie in the grass at the Great Lawn or Sheep’s Meadow. If you end up in the park, after relaxing for a bit find one of those ice cream carts. My favorite thing is the strawberry short cake popsicle. That oughta wake you up a bit.

After your day of consumption (which isn’t over yet) you might feel like something a bit lighter for dinner. Peacefood Cafe on the Upper West Side is one of my favorite places. The chick pea fries are amazing as is the asian greens salad. If you’re not that into vegan/vegetarian fare you can walk up the block to Jacob’s Pickles and be the carnivore you were meant to be.

After dinner my suggestion would be to head to the East Village to Anyway Cafe. From the Upper West Side you can take the B at 72nd and Central Park West to Rockefeller Center and switch to the F. Take that to 2nd Avenue and then walk up from there. Anyway Cafe has live music every night and the best infused vodkas. My favorites are the horseradish and the dill vodka. Hang there, soak it all in, and cry a little cause your wallet is a little thinner but your pants are a bit tighter.